SCOPE
This policy applies to emergency notifications sent by the University regardingincidents that occur on on-campus property at UC San Diego as defined by theJeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime StatisticsAct (20 USC Section 1092(f)(6)).
The medical facilities that are located on on-campus property (collectively,the La Jolla Medical Campus (LJMC)) use a notification system foremergencies that may impact their hospital or clinical settings in addition toreceiving Triton Alerts that are issued pursuant to this Policy. A map of LJMCthe La Jolla Medical Campus can be found at Appendix A to this Policy.
POLICY SUMMARY
Introduction
The University ofCalifornia San Diego provides emergency notifications to members of our campuscommunity and the public upon confirmation of a significant emergency or dangeroussituation occurring on campus that involves an immediate threat to the healthor safety of students or employees.
As required bythe Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus CrimeStatistics Act (Clery Act), UC San Diego has developed and maintains a systemknown as the TRITON ALERT Emergency Notification system, which is used to immediatelyinform the UC San Diego community upon confirmation of an emergency ordangerous situation that involves an immediate threat to the health or safetyof students or employees.
Ifan event occurs at the LJMC that may impact the hospital or clinical settings,including an emergency or dangerous situation, the LJMC will activate its EmergencyOperations Plan. If the event constitutes an emergency or dangerous situationthat has the potential to impact the (non-medical) campus, a TRITON ALERT willalso be issued as described in this Policy.
ReportingEmergencies - All members of the UC San Diego community should reportemergencies to the UC San Diego Police Department by calling 9-1-1. The UC San DiegoPolice Department can request other emergency responders, such as Fire orParamedics, in addition to local law enforcement.
Any situation or incidentthat involves a significant emergency or danger that may pose an immediate oron-going threat to the health and safety of students, employees and/or visitorson campus should be reported immediately.
DEFINITIONS
None
POLICY
1. When Emergency Notifications are Sent
A. TRITON ALERTS
Uponconfirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation which presentsan immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees, UC SanDiego will without delay, and taking into account the safety of the community, determinethe content of the notification and initiate the TRITON ALERT EmergencyNotification system, unless issuing a notification will, in the professionaljudgment of responsible authorities, compromise efforts to assist a victim orto contain, respond to, or otherwise mitigate the emergency.
The types of emergenciesthat may trigger a TRITON ALERT include, but are not limited to: an approachingtornado, hurricane or other extreme weather condition; a structure or wildlandfire; an outbreak of meningitis, norovirus, or other serious contagiousillness; a natural disaster; gas leak; active shooter or armed intruder; a bombthreat; civil unrest or rioting; an explosion; a terrorist incident; a nearbychemical or hazardous materials spill; or a significant impact power outage.
A TRITON ALERTwill be sent for emergencies affecting LJMC if the emergency threatens the healthand safety of students and employees beyond the LJMC, or if there is a need forthe community outside of the LJMC to be informed of the emergency in order tostay away from the area. The issuance of an LJMC alert typically does notreplace the obligation to issue a TRITON ALERT Emergency Notification if one isrequired.
B. LJMC Alerts
The LJMC will activateits Emergency Operations Plan and issue one of four different activation levels(Level of Activation), in the event a situation or emergency may impact itshospital or clinical settings. Level of Activation is defined as any of fouractivation levels at which the hospital&s Emergency Operations Plan will becomeactive. An activation can occur at any level and does not require a stepwisesequence of activation.
Level 1Activation (Alert/Monitoring) occurs when advance notice is received about anincident that has the potential to produce casualties or disrupt normalbusiness operations. The hospital is not currently impacted by the incident(e.g., a severe thunderstorm, a notification about a train accident with no knowncasualties at that time).
Level 2(Minor) Activation occurs when there is an incident having a minor impact onhospital operations. This type of activation typically occurs when an incident impactsone or two departments or a small part of operations, its scope is limited andof short duration.
Level 3(Moderate) Activation occurs when an incident has a moderate impact onoperations. This type of activation typically occurs when an incident impacts abouthalf of hospital operations and requires substantial support. The UC San DiegoPolice Department and Campus Environment, Health & Safety Department arealso notified.
Level 4 (Major) Activationoccurs when there is an incident with likely significant impact on operations,including the potential for long duration. This type of activation isconsidered significant, meaning that nearly all normal activities in thehospital are disrupted and the focus of most leadership and staff is on theincident. The UC San Diego Police Department and Campus Environment, Health& Safety Department are also notified.
Some alerts aresent before a Level of Activation is determined. These alerts must be issuedimmediately before the Hospital Incident Command System can be implemented.These alerts include, but are not limited to Active Intruder, Active Shooterand Code Adam (abduction or missing infant/child). In the event of an ActiveIntruder, Active Shooter or Code Adam, or any other non-medical communityemergency, the UC San Diego Police Department and Campus Environment, Health& Safety Department must be notified immediately. Based on the situation, aLevel of Activation will be implemented as soon as possible after the incidentcommences.
2. Content of Emergency Notifications
TRITON ALERT EmergencyNotifications will contain a brief description of the emergency withinstructions about what to do.
A. Emergency Instructions
TRITON ALERT EmergencyNotification instructions should be followed immediately.
The LJMC Alerts willcontain instructions that are applicable to the Level of Activation.
If the emergencyaffects only a small portion of UC San Diego and is unlikely to impact thelarger community, a TRITON ALERT Emergency Notification may be made only to thegroup affected; this decision will be made by the UCSan Diego Police Department Chief, Assistant Chief, Captain, Lieutenant, WatchCommander, the Campus Environment, Health & Safety Department Director orthe UC San Diego Campus Emergency Manager.
B. Evacuations
In the eventan evacuation of a portion or all of the campus is needed, the TRITON ALERTEmergency Notification will describe those evacuation procedures. The EmergencyOperations and Incident Management Plan (EOP) and the Emergency Management web page also include evacuation guidelinesthat will be used in the event of a campus evacuation.
In the eventan evacuation of part or all of the LJMC is needed, the Emergency Operations PlanAlerts will provide the hospital community with instructions about evacuationprocedures.
C. Follow-upInformation
After the initial TRITON ALERT Emergency Notification,follow-up information will be distributed by additional TRITON ALERT Emergency Notifications,as needed, until the emergency or threat has concluded and an all-clear messagehas been sent.
Updates and follow-up information will also be addedto the UCSan Diegohomepage or the Campus EmergencyCurrent Status page, or anotherwebsite created specifically for the emergency as appropriate. The updates and follow-up information will becompleted by the Executive Director, Internal Communications or the SeniorExecutive Director, Public Relations or their designee within the PublicRelations department.
The LJMC isresponsible for issuing an all-clear message for all alerts. The all-clearmessage types may be limited to personnel initially notified of an incident.
3. Method of Providing TRITON ALERT Emergency Notifications
A. E-MAIL to Official UC San Diego Accounts
When it has beendetermined that a TRITON ALERT Emergency Notification is required, an e-mailwill be sent to all students, faculty and staff at their official ucsd.edue-mail address. The university-wide e-mail subject line will be TRITON ALERT.University students, faculty and staff may not opt-out of receivingTRITON ALERT Emergency Notifications sent to their official UC San Diego emailaccount.
B. TEXTto Mobile Numbers
On an annual basis,all UC San Diego students, faculty and staff will be asked to provide textmessage contact information to be used for the purpose of receiving TRITONALERT Emergency Notifications, Timely Warnings, Community Alert Bulletins, oras part of a drill to test the TRITON ALERT Emergency Notification system. In orderto receive these notifications via text message, individuals must provide accurateand up-to-date contact information.
Students, faculty andstaff are reminded to update their contact numbers once a year and are advisedto update the information sooner if it changes. Contact information may beupdated at the TritonAlert Emergency Notifications page. UC San Diego strongly encourages allstudents, faculty and staff to provide contact information for text messages; however,individuals may opt-out from receiving these notifications via text message. Opt-outinformation may be found at the TritonAlert FAQpage.
Standard text messagingrates apply.
C. Additional Methods of Providing TRITON ALERT EmergencyNotifications/Emergency Information
Everbridgemobile app, telephone, loudspeakers, bullhorns, Talkaphone Callboxes, UC SanDiego Police Department vehicle public address systems, building fire alarm systemsor paper postings are methods that may also be used to relay information in anemergency or threatening situation.
Emergency information may also be provided through announcements to TritonLink, Blink,campus emergency status messages, social media websites, and the UC San DiegoRadio Station (1610 AM).
4. Method of Providing Emergency Notifications at LJMC
Levels of Activation:
Level 1 Alert -Key personnel alerted via page, text or email.
Level 2 Alert -Key personnel alerted via page, text or email - Opening of the Hospital CommandCentr, either virtually or physically, with limited positions assigned as the situation warrants.
Level 3 Alert- Key personnel alerted via page, text or email - activation of HospitalIncident Command System team. Enhanced management in the Hospital Command Centeris required.
Level 4 Alert -All staff notified via page, text, email and overhead announcement system.
Other timelyalerts may be issued to Health System personnel before a Level of Activation isimplemented, such as an Active Intruder, Active Shooter and Code Adam (abductionor missing infant/child). The method of communication for these alerts withouta Level of Activation may be different based on the emergency code or incident,but will usually go out multimodally - page, text, email, and/or overheadsystem.
5. Emergency Information via Web Sites
The following websites may also contain local emergency information:
1. UC San Diego homepage
2. UC San DiegoEmergency Status website
3. Blink website
4. Triton Linkwebsite
5. UC San Diego PoliceDepartment website
6. San DiegoCounty Emergency homepage
7. UCSan Diego Health homepage
Or an additional websitecreated for the emergency by UC San Diego, if appropriate.
6. EXCEPTION to USE of TRITON ALERT/LJMC Alerts for Providing Informationin an On- Going Emergency
In the event an emergency isprolonged, such as in the case of a pandemic, UC San Diego may use additionalmethods of communication to provide on-going information, resources andguidance relating to the emergency to the campus community in addition toTRITON ALERTS/LJMC Alerts. The purpose of these communications is to keep thecampus community informed of day-to-day operational needs or changes relatingto the emergency without necessarily relating to an escalation in the emergencyitself. These types of notifications include emails, text messages, social mediapostings, website postings, and town halls and may be issued to segments of thepopulation as needed. The decision to issue these communications and thecontent of these communications will be determined by the Chancellor&s office orother Cabinet-level offices as appropriate. These notifications do not replace TRITONALERTS or LJMC Alerts.
7. TRITON ALERT Emergency Notification Tests / Drills
A full-scale test of the TRITONALERT Emergency Notification system will occur at least once a year. One of thetests will generally be performed in conjunction with a regional drill or exercise.The University will publicize its emergency response and evacuation proceduresin conjunction with the annual test. For each test, the University documents adescription of the exercise, the date and time, and whether it was announced orunannounced. Documentation of each test will take place and be maintained bythe University for seven years.
LJMC will test theLevel of Activation system for all Health faculty and staff at least once a year.For each test, UC San Diego Health documents a description of the exercise, thedate and time, and whether it was announced or unannounced. Documentation of eachtest will take place and be maintained by UC San Diego Health for seven years.
8. TRITON ALERT Emergency Notifications to Others
Individualswho are not faculty, staff or students may sign up to receive TRITON ALERTEmergency Notifications by texting TRITONALERT to 888777. Once enrolled viatext, individuals will also receive an option to receive TRITON ALERT EmergencyNotifications by email by providing their email address.
Theseindividuals will be automatically unsubscribed each year with an option tosubscribe again by texting TRITONALERT to 888777.
Standard text messagingrates apply.
9. Providing Informationto Surrounding Community
Individuals in thesurrounding communities may go to the main UCSan Diego homepage or the Campus EmergencyCurrent Status page for information regarding any significant emergency or dangeroussituation which presents an immediate threat to the health or safety ofstudents or employees.
The followingindividuals are responsible for providing information to the ExecutiveDirector, Internal Communications or the Senior Executive Director, PublicRelations or their designee within the Public Relations Department so thatwebsites can be updated appropriately.
a. UC SanDiego Police Department Chief;
b. UC SanDiego Police Department Police Assistant Chief;
c. UC SanDiego Police Department Police Captain;
d. UC SanDiego Police Department Police Lieutenant;
e. UC SanDiego Police Department Police Watch Commander;
f. CampusEnvironment, Health and Safety Department Director;
g. CampusEmergency Manager; or
h. If none ofthese individuals are available, a direct designee of the UC San Diego PoliceDepartment Police Chief who is within the UC San Diego Police Department or adirect designee of the Campus Environment, Health & Safety Director who iswithin the Campus Environment, Health & Safety Department
The followingindividuals are responsible for contacting the San Diego County Office ofEmergency Services or San Diego Police Department to provide informationregarding the emergency or dangerous threat and to coordinate the appropriateresponse, as necessary.
a. UC SanDiego Police Department Chief;
b. UC SanDiego Police Department Assistant Chief;
c. UC SanDiego Police Department Captain;
d. UC SanDiego Police Department Lieutenant;
e. UC SanDiego Police Department Watch Commander; or
f. CampusEnvironment, Health and Safety Department Director;
g. CampusEmergency Manager; or
h. If none ofthese individuals are available, a direct designee of the UC San Diego PoliceDepartment Police Chief who is within the UC San Diego Police Department or adirect designee of the Campus Environment, Health & Safety Director who iswithin the Campus Environment, Health & Safety Department
RESPONSIBILITIES
InstitutionalOfficials Authorized to Send TRITON ALERT Emergency Notifications
In the case of areported significant emergency or threat, the UC San Diego Police DepartmentWatch Commander or the UC San Diego Campus Emergency Manager, or in the event neitheris available, their designated substitutes, will confirm with first responders/ area experts whether the emergency or dangerous situation exists. Confirmationof an immediate threat or emergency does not necessarily mean that all of thepertinent details are known or even available.
Uponconfirmation of a significant emergency or dangerous situation which presentsan immediate threat to the health or safety of students or employees, thefollowing individuals or offices are authorized to draft and send a TRITONALERT Emergency Notification message:
a. UC San DiegoPolice Department Police Chief;
b. UC San DiegoPolice Department Police Assistant Chief;
c. UC SanDiego Police Department Police Captain;
d. UC SanDiego Police Department Police Lieutenant;
e. UC SanDiego Police Department Watch Commander;
f. CampusEnvironment, Health & Safety Department Director;
g. Campus EmergencyManager; or
h. If none ofthese individuals are available, any designee of the UC San Diego PoliceDepartment Police Chief who is within the UC San Diego Police Department, any designeeof the Campus Environment, Health & Safety Department Director who is withinthe Campus Environment, Health & Safety Department, or a member of theChancellor&s Cabinet.
These individualswill also be responsible for deciding whether to send a TRITON ALERT foremergencies affecting the LJMC.
Institutional OfficialsAuthorized to Send LJMC Alerts
The following individuals are authorized to activate the EmergencyOperations Plan and draft and send a Level of Activation alert in the event asituation or emergency may impact its hospital or clinical settings:
A. Director, Emergency Management, UC San Diego Health
B. Emergency Management Coordinators, UC San Diego Health
C. Director, Security, UC San Diego Health
D. Security Operations Center Dispatchers, UC San Diego Health
E. Administrators On-Calls (AOCs), UC San Diego Health
F. Ambulatory Administrators On-Call (AAOC&s), UC San DiegoHealth
G. Hospital Operators, UC San Diego Health
PROCEDURES
None
FORMS
None
RELATED INFORMATION
1. UC San Diego Emergency Operations & Incident ManagementPlan
2. Emergency Preparedness - Blink
3. The Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting
4. Clery Act Appendix for Federal Student Aid (FSA)Handbook
FREQUENTLY ASKEDQUESTIONS (FAQs)
None
REVISION HISTORY
August 21, 2024 - Policy revised to update nomenclature of La Jolla Medical Campus from East Campus Medical Center and minor edits.
August 18, 2023 - Policy revised to update procedures atECMC.
August 17, 2022 - Policy revised to include new methods for signing upto receive Triton Alerts, additional department responsibilities, address howtext messages are used, and other minor edits.
April 11, 2022 - Policy revised to include campus notifications in on-goingemergency situations.
September 23, 2021 - Policy revised to include UC San Diego Health EastCampus Medical Center emergency notification procedures.
December 14, 2020 - Policy revised to align with Clery Actrequirements. October 13, 2020 - Policy formally reviewed and formatted. Minor editsmade.
October 10, 2017 - Policy revised to update Emergency Notification procedures.Also, Policy reformatted into standard template.
September 22, 2016 - New policy.
